Control, or the Lack Thereof
by Hadronix
Summary: Corrin has had a rough time growing up in the Northern Castle. The isolation from the world, instead of causing her to want to go outside, instead grows on her, to where she wants to remain isolated, where she wants to remain without control. She's willing to give it all up. And there's one person who will eagerly take that control away from her.


**A/N:** There's nothing good coming out of this. It's all unnecessarily high angst, if it even can be called angst, negative feelings, and just overall a damp and depressing atmosphere.

…

Enjoy!

* * *

Corrin had spent the majority of her youth with memories filled with not much more than nothing. She'd wake up, wash, get dressed, then go about her day in the Northern Castle. A routine made much more mundane with the assistance of her personal servants; Jakob, Felicia, and Flora. It was all dull, repetitive, and it quite frankly drove her crazy. It was only due to familial visits that she kept her sanity. Elise's ever-present happiness, Leo's calm demeanor, Camilla's motherly and doting front, and Xander's authority.

Perhaps it was due to her isolation in the Northern Castle, but she noticed as the years ticked by, going outside became less and less appealing. She appreciated the predictability of her life. She was last-second thought in her own life, and she was fine with that. A side character that only gets any real activity when the other, more important people show up. Even when the day she bested Xander in the duel, she felt… what? Nothing?

Big sister Camilla then told her she was finally able to leave, she'd be going to Castle Krakenburg.

…

Once upon a time, there was a younger version of Corrin who would have jumped in joy, throw her arms around them, maybe cried tears of joy. But, now? Now all that is only another variant in her life. She's still a side character, so she followed the more important ones without a second thought.

All the things she once dreamed of, the cold wind, seeing more than the outside of her window, it all barely grazed her. She's experiences things she never had, but it was just kinda… there. As the days passed, between traveling, doing her father's bidding, and living in the castle, Corrin came to a conclusion.

She doesn't **want** the control, she **craves** the feeling of being controlled and confined.

And perhaps… perhaps the gods listened to her internal pleas, perhaps fate has thrown its gaze her way, because she happened to bump into the one who would gladly take all of that control away from her. He is an Archer, one of the retainers to her little brother, Leo. An eyepatch over one eye, a sharp tongue, and a filthy mouth.

Niles.

She knew, just from the moment her eyes met his, that he had something she wanted, he ended up being the one who had no issue doing as he pleased with royalty. He's the reason she kept coming back, he's the reason she stayed with Nohr. Even as she was taken to Hoshido, declared Hoshidan royalty, shown her family by blood, there was only one person on her mind.

It always came back to Niles.

She disliked her time in Hoshido… her family was doing the exact opposite of what she wanted, they thought they were doing what was best. But they wouldn't ever understand. She doesn't **want** control. She brought it up, but they said it was 'Nohr's corrupting influences that make you think this way'. So, when the time came to decide? She chose Nohr.

Not because of who her family really was, not because of what she thought was right. She chose Nohr so she could run back to his side. She'd… she'd make a few more choices, if it meant that privilege could be stripped from her later. There only ever was one thing she truly would take up both her Dragonstone and Yato for…

She fought for Niles. She endured days of being in control, so that she could experienced nights without any control. There was no courting, no round-a-bout things like dates or seeing if they are even 'compatible'. Once he heard the desperation in her voice, her willingness to give him all the control. She'd let him do anything.

Anything.

During the days of the war, she was 'Corrin, the commander'... at night she was 'Corrin, the plaything of Niles'. He did exactly what she wanted, and that was for him to do as he wanted. Night after night she was bound, he'd insult her, touch her wherever he wanted. Day after day, she led her army to victory, taking out more and more Hoshidans, or whatever else stood in her way.

She wanted the nights to last longer than the days.

She'd taken to drinking her coffee at night, just for another hour of being confined, another hour of his tongue, his flogging, his ropes, more and more… but also less and less. She knew he was steadily taking more and more every night, his insults more vile, his apologies less. His preference for pain started causing her to bleed more. She was his, no matter how bad it gotten, she always came back for more… or did she come back for less?

The war went on, the battles felt too long. Niles told her she should stop sparing lives, that trying to knock them out was costing them too much time… she switched over her orders the following day. The battles did, in fact, speed up, nobody had to restrain themselves. Yet, all that meant was that she could throw away her control sooner, so that Niles could take it all away… and give her so little. He took, took, took, and gave so rarely.

He never did ask for her hand in marriage, he hadn't thought her worth the time. She would know, she asked. She thought it would be the best way to permanently give it all up. He scoffed, "Girl, I already own you."

…

He spent more time hitting than having sex that night.

He'd never strike where people would normally see, no matter how much it hurts, how much she bled, how many scars that formed.

* * *

The war ended, and she let him take her away. No, that's it… not a word. No message, no goodbyes, no hugs. He even managed to slip her past Jakob. She left with whatever she could carry, and that's it. He took her to some remote cabin, away from everyone else. He covered their tracks, told her that the entire army would have to scour all of Nohr to have a chance at finding them.

The rules started dropping, boundaries were being broken, lines were being crossed. Cuts, bruises, and scars began showing up in places that were normally 'too public' to show. She was in her own little Northern Castle, with a man who has taken what little control she would have had otherwise. She didn't care, she stayed through it all. He started leaving for days at a time, but she obediently stayed. He'd have to write her reminders to do simple tasks like eating… or else she would think that it wasn't time. She ate when he ate, she drank when he drank. Without him there, she would have otherwise starved.

And after the tenth or so extended trip, she noticed he came back looking… pleased? She didn't know why, but she'd never ask. It was another night of being without control, and that's all that mattered.

…

Then she learned why the trips were taking longer. One day, he came back with another woman, he told her not to mind 'the other one'. That woman glanced at Corrin, who obediently stayed in her spot. She rolled her eyes at her, whilst being led by Niles into the bedroom. Corrin's eyes followed them, but otherwise she remained still.

Niles would come get her when he's ready. Even when all the attention she got was her food and water, she waited. Hours without contact turned into days, then weeks. Niles would instead bring in a different woman, sometimes a man, and Corrin only got to have her turn the night after one of the visitors left. Then it got to the point where she'd go for months without being touched. She was given her bowl of food and water and that's it.

She didn't care, as long as he was in control.

* * *

But, then there was that one time. It would be the last time Niles left on an extended trip. As for why? He didn't return alone… but, more notably, he didn't return with some man or woman to please for a few nights. Instead, he was all but thrown against the wall, blood pouring from his being… the man was even missing an arm.

Camilla walked in first, pulling Corrin into her embrace, crying over the state of her adopted sister. Leo pinned the now one-arm Niles against the wall, Brynhildr's pages violently flipped as he announced the archer's execution. Partly from abandoning his oath as a retainer, but more 'importantly' for Corrin's current state.

"D-Don't…" She whimpered, her voice hoarse. She never really did speak unless Niles permitted it.

"Shh, dear, we'll…" Camilla starts.

"Don't take him from me." Tears rolled down Corrin's face, "**Don't take him from me**!" She screams at Leo, her voice ragged and raspy.

"Gods… sister." Leo scowls, "This… vile scum has…"

"Don't take him from me, don't take him from me…" She kept repeating.

"Darling, please listen to yourself." Camilla pleads, "And look at what's he's done to you…"

"He's done exactly what I wanted him to. E-ever since the start, I wanted him to take all the c-control away from me. And that's what he did, Niles does wh-what he wants… and that's what I want!"

"This is abuse, sister." Leo's magic flares up, "He's beaten that mentality into you and…"

Corrin struggles against Camilla, but due to her lack of training and proper nourishment, failed against her sister's far superior strength, "And if you stopped and noticed, you'd have seen that I didn't want control for years! Even back in the Northern Castle, I **want** to feel that isolation again."

Leo looks from her to him, "King Xander has given me full authority to control the situation when we finally found you." His eyes lock on Niles, "And as such, I sentence Niles to death. Brynhildr!" He shouts. A mini-tree sprouts up, expertly weaving around Leo and only striking Niles.

"N-Niles!" Corrin screamed with all of the hoarseness she could manage. "Niles…" Camilla kept her from crawling over to the mangled corpse.

"We're leaving, sisters." Leo announces. "And I swear, I'll do whatever I can to heal you through your pain, Corrin."

"Let's go, darling…" Camilla hefts Corrin over one of her shoulders, but… all Corrin could do is stare at Niles. Even as they traveled back to Krakenburg, her eyes remained fixated in the direction of where Niles is. She never forgot which direction that was.

Her source for giving up all of her control is gone… there's no-one else who will give her the same feeling.

…

Or maybe. Maybe she should just give up the rest of her control? No, not to a person, but to… nothing. She's felt pain before, Niles has brought her close to it before, but…

What **does** it feel like? She's done it to other people so many times, but this is something that can only happen once. If… if she's going to follow through with this, she's got to make it count.

* * *

It barely even took her a day to get everything together. She would have brought Niles's dagger, but that's back at the cabin, and there's no way she can get there before her Nohrian family finds out and catches her. Instead, the Shadow Yato pulses in her hand, the blade that has taken so many lives, her blood-family included. Her armor is off, her clothes are purposely tattered, and next to her on the floor is the first written thing she has done in years. Her penmanship is proof of that, as letters are crossed out, done again, removed, added.

'I'm giving up the rest of my control…' Is all that note reads.

Corrin takes a deep breath, holds the Shadow Yato by the flat sides of the blade, then grits her teeth.

Drip, drip… It feels, almost like nothing. No, there's pain, but it's almost laughable to what Niles could do. How would it feel if Niles were to do this to her? Run her through with her own sword? She's confident it would feel so much better. "Nhg…" She grunts as a few more inches go in. Her already weak arms can't push it in any further. She falls to her knees, coughing up blood. The Shadow Yato hasn't even went through to her back. If she can't push it, then…

With one last surge of strength, one last push for something in her control, she rises up, positioning herself that the hilt of the blade is leveled onto the floor. She then gives up that last bit of control, and allows natural forces to bring her down. The familiar sound of metal piercing through flesh squelches out as Corrin impales herself.

Blood starts pouring more freely, now that the flesh-walls that held it back is gone. Her vision blurs, seeing only an increasingly stained carpet. "N-Niles…" She breathes her last. Her last word, her last memory…

Her last bit of control.


End file.
